9 TED Talks all CIOs should watch in 2017 | The best TED Talks for business

The best TED Talks on business transformation, leadership, data and the use of technology in the workplace

Tom is Online Editor. He studied English Literature and History at Sussex University before gaining a Masters in Newspaper Journalism from City University. He's particularly interested in the public sector and the ethical implications of emerging technologies.

May 18, 2017

CIO UK

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TED Talks have always had a strong IT influence, as the first word of the acronym that makes its name suggests. The conference converging Technology, Entertainment and Design under the slogan of "ideas worth spreading" has been the stage for thousands of talks which have been viewed online more than a billion times in total.

The array of speakers at the two annual events and the glut of independently organised TEDx conferences held since the first TED conference in 1984 vary in quality, but there are some genuine insights behind the imperious gestures and headset microphones. CIO UK delved into the TED archives to separate the innovative thinkers from the pretentious charlatans.

Best TED Talks for CIOs: Big data is better data by Kenneth Cukier

Technology journalist Kenneth Cukier explains how data can help humanity advance. He describes the development of data, from 4,000-year-old inscriptions on clay discs in Greece, to hard disks in computers that can be processed shared and reused.

The developments mean data now has multiple overlapping uses. The increased information can help both humans and machines make better decisions whether curing diseases or preventing crime. But there's also dangers of data: it has the potential to take our jobs and to reduce our free will. Cukier describes the hopes and fears and how we should prepare for the inevitable data-driven future.

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Welcome to the age of the industrial internet by Marco Annunziata

Economist Marco Annunziata describes the revolutions from the industry to the internet. The third he cites combines the two: The industrial internet. It combines smart machines, advanced analytics, and human creativity to transform all sectors of industry.

Our new access to realms of data is changing how we optimise machinery and infrastructure, from self-learning aircraft maintenance devices that cut flight cancellations by discovering engineering flaws that human operators miss, to collaborative tools such as handheld devices that help engineers repair wind turbines. Annunziata describes the possibilities the industrial internet will unleash and its impact on our future jobs.

The puzzle of motivation by Dan Pink

Dan Pink graduated from law school, but was a self-admittedly poor student who never practiced law. In his TED talk, he dusts off what's left of his legal skills to make an evidence-based case for rethinking how to run businesses. His proposal is based on overcoming functional fixedness to solve problems.

Financial rewards can be effective incentives to promote better performance for tasks with a narrow focus, he says, but they can actually have a negative impact on more creative challenges requiring cognitive skill. Instead of the carrot and stock, he suggests a different approach, made up of three separate prongs: autonomy, mastery and purpose.

Want to innovate? Become a 'now-ist' by Joi Ito

Joi Ito's family were in Japan when the 2011 earthquake struck. He was at a panicking MIT Media Lab, and went online to learn more. Together with others searching for information, he formed a group called Safecast that aimed to measure the radiationand disseminate the data.

The declining cost of innovation is making such citizen-led schemes more possible, and more bottom-up, democratic strategies led by amateurs keep emerging as evidence. Its advice is to prioritise the compass over the map. Preparation is crucial, but plans cannot predict the future.

Development expert Patrick Forth believes success will increasingly be drive by an organisation's ability to change. He notes academic research that suggests we won't even recognise three-quarters of today's Fortune 500 by 2020 will be names we’ve never heard of. Forth gives his advice on how large companies can embrace disruption and avoid being consumed by the 'change monster'.

He says companies need to challenge the mindset of unconscious learning and add digitally-native executives to the leadership team, and that change must occur on an industrial scale. Disruption may be best served by developing away from the heart of the business, but within that core it is also essential to shift from the traditional to the digital.

How data will transform business by Philip Evans

Technology is challenging some fundamental business ideas. Philip Evans says two long-standing theories of strategy are no longer fit for purpose: concentrating massagainst weakness, and the concept of the value chain, which argues that what holds a business together is transaction costs.

One of these is about processing information, while the other is about communication. Each has been transformed since they were formulated, rendering the historical premises of business strategy obsolete. Evans explains how data has created new ways to analyse how businesses are structured.

Business model innovation — beating yourself at your own game by Stefan Gross-Selbeck

Startups have a reputation for driving innovation in a way that large established companies often struggle to replicate. Whether it's Uber with taxis or Airbnb with hotels, industries of every type are being transformed by disruption. Business transformation expert Stefan Gross-Selbeck explains how they do it, and what legacy companies can learn from their successes.

Startups don't have a business model, they're in the process of discovering one. Big companies execute ideas, but can struggle to discover them. Netflix is one of the few that has done both. They disrupted the video rental business by replacing stores with mail order, and then turned disruption onto the successful business that was produced by distributing streaming video media. Gross-Selbeck explains how companies can replicate the startup mindset and join the exclusive list of organisations that both innovate and implement.

How great leaders inspire action by Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek has discovered one of the secrets of success. The endless innovation emerging from Apple, the revolutionary leadership of Martin Luther King Junior and the first powered flight by the Wright brothers were all achieved despite each of the trio having similar resources to their competition. His explanation lies in a "golden circle" with the question "Why?" at its centre.

Every leader knows what they do and many of them how, but only the most successful of them can truly answer why. This isn't just a question of products and profits, he says, it's the deeper motivation that makes people care. Apple, for example, promotes a belief in thinking differently and a desire to challenge the status quo. Sinek explains the biological basis of his theory and how leaders can use it to inspire cooperation, trust and change.

5 ways to lead in an era of constant change by Jim Hemerling

Change often instils fear in this era of "always-on" transformation. It can also create excitement, as is obvious when watching people embark on plans to make their personal lives better. Organisational change expert Jim Hemerling has a plan to make change energising instead of exhausting.

His strategy consists of first putting people first to give them purpose and going all in to fundamentally reshape and develop. They then need the capabilities to support sustained, and support by the promotion of a culture of continuous learning. For leaders, he offers a further tip: have a vision marked with milestones and hold people accountable for results.